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Friday, September 4, 2026

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Author

Ismail Okafor

Ismail Okafor listens for the sound as well as the story, writing about artists, live performance and the business around music. He covers DJ craft and discovery routes, musical narrative technique, and the working economics of players and studios.

Business Correspondent

Independent editorial contributor covering music, performance craft, artists and the music trade.

Articles by Ismail Okafor

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Guitarist Who Wired Gospel Into Rock and Roll

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Guitarist Who Wired Gospel Into Rock and Roll

Ismail Okafor

Slide-position fret map comparing standard and open tuning chord shapes

Bonnie Raitt: Fifty Years of Slide

Ismail Okafor

Chart of cable capacitance versus treble rolloff by length

Guitar Cables and Signal Loss Explained

Ismail Okafor

Chart comparing travel guitar sizes and scale lengths

How to Choose a Travel Guitar

Ismail Okafor

Guitarist's right hand fingerpicking a hollow-body electric with thumb pick

Chet Atkins: How One Thumb Built Nashville

Ismail Okafor

Old Buenos Aires teaching studio with sheet music stands and guitars

Julio Sagreras: Primer That Still Teaches

Ismail Okafor

Radius gauges resting on a maple electric guitar fretboard

Fretboard Radius: 9.5 vs 12 Inch

Ismail Okafor

Diagram comparing standard and reversed string roles on a flipped guitar

Elizabeth Cotten: Playing It Upside Down

Ismail Okafor

Comparison chart of spruce, cedar, and mahogany tonewood properties

Spruce vs Cedar vs Mahogany Tonewoods

Ismail Okafor

A guitarist's right thumb resting on the humbuckers of a large hollow-body archtop

Wes Montgomery: The Case for the Thumb

Ismail Okafor